Purgatory it is
by MineUnfaltering
Summary: Tag for Double Death. "Should I welcome you, a sinner like all here into My Kingdom? Or shall I send you to purgatory with the others, to await a day when the balance torn apart by evil forces is restored? Then again, sinner, perhaps you deserve Hell?”


Okay, so this was my tag from Double Death of the Dearly departed. It's kind of a venting piece, and kind of random, but it encompasses my frustration not just at what an aweful epidode 4D was but at the season in general.

I waited to post until I had some chapters up for Don't Ever Doubt it, but now I don't feel guilty for posting it!

So here it is!

* * *

The soft dawn enveloped all those who stood quietly at the gate. All waiting, all watching the clouds part and the wind rise and swirl in the space created by the clouds. A light began to form in the midst of the wind funnel tiny particles gathering, forming together to form a distinct outline.

The light flashed brighter as the figure immerged fully whole again.

Everyone held their breath as he glanced around, taking in this new reality. They didn't want to frighten him, didn't want to make this any harder than it would be. There had already been so many meetings here by the gate; so many held off from entrance, that they feared for this individual. Feared his fate, because his arrival marked a low that may turn the tides for all the souls stuck in Purgatory, awaiting decision.

The silent crowd grew tense as The One they waited on arrived. Burning frightfully bright in as He strode forward, all bowed to Him as he walked by headed not for the gate but for his thrown of the purest, gold of Heaven.

"Hank Reilley." He said, gesturing for all to rise, which they did only to see the man outside the gate quake with fear at the power and majesty of His voice.

"Where- where am I?" Hank cried out at last.

"You have past from the World, My son."

'I-I'm dead, then? I'm dead? I died?" The crowd stayed silent as Hank came to terms with his own death, recalling how frightened they had been.

"Then… are you… are you God?'

"I Am the I Am. The Beginning and the End. I am God the Father." The voice boomed with power and beauty.

Hank fell to his knees terrified, not in praise. "You-You aren't real. Science id real- I am a scientist. I don't believe-."

"I know, my Son. That is why we are all here, to determine what will become of you, for you have lived a sinful life. You refused to see that I made your science."

"B-but if you're real then shouldn't I be in hell?" Frank asked coming closer to the gate wanted hoping that somehow he would move beyond them to the beautiful, peaceful land barred to him. Frank longed for a better look, and reached for his glasses, only to find that they were no longer and that in there place were a pair of sunglasses, female sun glasses. What exactly had he died doing?

He was in a nice suite, one of his favorites. He had gotten up for breakfast; his stepmother met him for breakfast, what else had happened? He'd been feeling fine. No he had been angry the lawyer had told him something his family was trying to do. Frank looked again at the glasses; he'd seen them somewhere before, standing outside the Jeffersonian. There had been a woman…. Cam! Suddenly he recalled everything, with perfect clarity the remembered the last three weeks, though he'd been dead for most of it. It was true then, the ridiculous superstition that the soul lingered until it was free of all its unresolved issues were taken care of.

Hanks thought back to his wake, and glanced up at God, and then back to the Angels around the gate. "Did they…did they steal my body? Prop me in a car and tot me around like a burdensome toy?" Hank asked in obvious discust.

The Angels hung their heads, and God breathed a loud sigh that shook the very gates, and caused the clouds to drift swiftly away.

"We must Call the others, before we begin." God said, and so it was that suddenly another group of people appeared, theythey stood outside the gate like Hank. Yet another group arose from nowhere, there Hank had a pretty fair guess that they where from Hell, as they all writhed in pain and anguish. Their mouths opened in silent agonized screams.

"Behold, your brothers and sisters. We must decide who you will join. Should I welcome you, a sinner like all here into My Kingdom? Or shall I send you to purgatory with the others, to await a day when the balance torn apart by evil forces is restored? Then again, sinner, perhaps you deserve Hell?"

Hank looked at all the scenes before him, all the people who stood, in three very different groups, he pointed to the group within the gate who shone with a beauty he'd never before and never would again encounter. "If they were sinners, as I was why are they allowed in Heaven, and not me?" Hank asked desperately.

A woman strode forward, with a nod of permission from Him. She was a beautiful young woman, who looked at Hank with a peace he never knew, and yet now craved with everything in his being.

She spoke. "Dear Hank, We too were sinner, it is true, but we were saved. Each of us was saved by the dedication, and reverence held for our bodies. The love put towards us allowed God to grant us entrance where before we would have been too tainted."

"Who- who are you?" Hank asked frightened of the woman's passion.

"My name is Cleo Eller."

"Who do you mean when you say 'they.'" Hank asked.

God spoke again them, His voice inspiring both fear and awe. "My chosen ones. Temperance Brennan and Seeley Booth. I put in them the desire, and ability to give bring peace to many of My children. They held a reverence for life that when invested in my Children, marked them with love, purifying them for Heaven." God answered sadly.

"Then why are they in Hell? And why are they in Purgatory?" Hank asked frightened at God's use of the past tense.

A man strode forward from the Purgatory group, still looking like a corpse, endlessly cold, yet not in the anguish those from hell seized under. Was the man foaming? Hank took a step back.

'We are the most recent souls entrusted to Dr. Brennan and Agent Booth, though they have solved our cases, and laid us to rest, we are stuck. You see the Partners have stepped away from the reverence of life they once held. Booth has turned away from his usual undying respect from the dead. Instead he makes little jokes, snide comments."

A girl parted from the crowd to join the foaming man, she was covered in salt, but Hank could see she was a very attractive young woman. "He looked at my body and said he suddenly had a craving for chips." The girl said tearfully.

Hank wanted to reach out and comfort her, for once not having any sexual intentions, just wanting to convey his understand. He was a cheating dick, yes, but even he could tell such a comment would have been bad form.

'Dr. Brennan used to be so driven to find the truth, she would spend hour looking over remains. Regarding each bone in our bodies with loving care, fiercely protecting our bones from anything that might hide the truth from her. Yet when my bones began to foam, a completely rare and unheard of phenomena, she barely spared me a second glance, more than happy to pass me off to interns."

A man stepped forward from the group of Angels. "That never would have happened a few years ago. I was killed and used as a ploy to find Black beard's treasure. There was another set of bones involved, and when an FBI pathologist compromised the integrity of the one finger bone she had, Brennan went crazy. She was so angry at the lack of care toward her bones that it was enough to wipe me clean of my sins.'

"What does this mean for me? Where do I go?" Hank asked eyeing the group from Hell as one man made he way through and spoke through the screams.

"He belongs with us. He has sinned."

"God waved his hand and sent the man back into the fire, "Who was that?" hank asked.

"Howard Epps. Even Booth and Brennan's love and devotion couldn't save him." God explained before turning back to the subject at hand.

"The absolute lack of reverence, respect, devotion, and drive has managed to taint your soul, for it has latched onto you old sin." God confided. "What now should I do with you?"

"What? Wait! It's not my fault that they aren't doing things right! I though you were supposed to be perfect! Why don't you just fix them? Why not just make them more reverent again?" Hank cried in frustration and fear, what was to become of him?

"It is not that simple my son. Before their reverence, devotion they held for the sanctity of life fed off each other. Their unvoiced love was enough to keep them moving forward, enough to give them the strength to fight once again for another soul."

"Why isn't it enough, now?" Hank cried in frustration, the sounds and movements if those from hell starting to make him sweat.

A pretty girl stepped forward, shining brilliantly from behind the gate, she was another young woman, and Hank was again surprised that he felt sexual inclination, but a deep and painful longing to hold the same light as she.

"There inability to open to each other in their quest for the Truth has begun to stop them. Their ridiculous fear has begun to spill from them, making them hurt the other instead of building them up"

"Not their inability, Maggie, my child, God corrected from his thrown.

"They worked with my remains, after a date I turned down ran me over. Twice. Instead of encouraging each other to focus, and helping the other progress, Booth called

Brennan heartless, and told her she was still no good with human interaction and emotion. How is she supposed to have the courage to voice her emotions if he is constantly telling her that she is still no good at emotion?" Cried a woman frozen in Purgatory.

"Yes! Why should she trust her emotions if the supposed "heart" their partnership tells her she has none?" Maggie cried out.

"You can't lay it all on Booth though." Came a voice from behind the gates. It was a young boy, obviously a solider, though he wore no uniform, it was just there in his posture.

"Why not?" The woman who'd been run over- twice- asked.

"Booth knows Brennan as a purely honest woman. He has seen her tell, and reveal the harshest of truths. He also knows that she fights for what she wants, what she believes in. If she hasn't fought against his 'Some day's' and 'Eventually's'" – a loud and soulful groan swept through all of Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory. Perfectly harmonized in it's overwhelming frustration it shook the gates, and disrupted the clouds which where set in motion to begin an early hurricane season, more proof that everything was out of balance while Booth and Brennan got their act together-"if she hadn't fought his vague promises why would he have a reason to profess his love? If she returned his feelings, if she wanted that line gone-" another groan ensued at the mention, the disrupting this time causing the heat to intensify over poor Florida- "he believes she would have said something. He believes she would have been honest as she is in all other areas of her life."

"You are correct, Kent, My Son."

"Well, that's just great! I have to spend eternity in hell because they refuse to get their act together!" Hank ranted angry now.

"Do not forget your own sin, My Son." God cautioned, and Hank shrank back in fear and shame.

A young girl walked forward her curly brown hair and soft features were kissed by the eternal down surrounding them.

"I do not believe Hell is right for this one." The girl addressed God with a bow, Heaven with his sin."

"Who are you to make that call?" Hank cried.

"My name is Amy Cullen. I was pure for Heaven before Booth and Brennan worked my case, and I was alive to witness there dedication. The lack of such in your case makes me feel as though Hell should be postponed for you."

"Purgatory, then." God said rising from His seat.

"Wait! No! I don't want to go to purgatory! Why don't you just make them tell each other their feelings?" Hank cried, falling again to his knees in despair.

"Free will, my Son. I cannot force them. All I can do is provide them more opportunities to discover the Truth."

Hanks cried out as, with a wave of His hand, God banished the sinners back to Hell, and felt himself being pulled towards the Purgatory group. He struggled against the invisible force that filled him with an endless cold.

"No!" Hank cried as he felt the group being moved. He watched as he was lowered with the rest, the majestic beauty of Heaven blazed painfully in his memory. Why hadn't he lived a good life? Why had he cheated on his wife? Tear poured down his face as he realized his mistakes. He clutched the sunglasses he still had in despair, praying that soon Agent Booth and Dr. Brennan would realize the Truth, and give him the second chance they were supposed to have given him.

Dawning the useless sunglasses as he sank further away from Heaven, Hank realized that even partially blind he saw better than they did. He felt a sort of timer within himself and with each drop of sand, with each passing second he felt hope leaving his body.

"Don't worry, you're not alone." Said the foaming man, and Hank realized he had been moved to the group unaware. "We all feel that time is winding down for them. For us."


End file.
